TIME releases Best 100 Creators list; Kai Cenat, MrBeast and Khaby Lame on top

TIME has recently unveiled its yearly list of the 100 most influential content creators for this year. It spotlighted the digital influencers leading the online culture and entertainment landscape across different social media platforms.

World-renowned digital creators such as Khaby Lame, Kai Cenat, MrBeast, Livvy Dunne, and more talented icons have made it to the TIME100 Creators list.

Kai Cenat topped the much-awaited TIME's top 100 creators list, followed by Alix Earle, Sean Evans, and Khaby Lame, among others.

In a conversation with TIME, the popular streamer expressed,

"We're showing people that if you be yourself, people are going to f*ck with you. As a streamer, you’re not in a box. You’re not trapped. You can talk however you want."

The Twitch legend also chatted with Andrew R. Chow for TIME's new cover story and admitted to suffering from anxiety. He elaborated,

"Something that I’m noticing within myself, that I just discovered, is I have anxiety. I’m always worrying, 'Oh God, what if things don’t go right?' I'm scared, I'm scared, I’m scared."

A look at TIME's 100 most influential content creators list

2025 marks the inaugural year for the TIME100 Creators 2025 list. To feature and honor stars this year, they have featured top influencers-turned-digital celebrities. The publication marked history by dedicating a list solely to digital creators.

From Instagram to TikTok and Twitch to YouTube, social media content creators have been dominating with their worldwide presence.

From behind the cameras, they have now established a prominent presence in award shows, movie premieres, collaborating with celebrities and high-profile events.

Alix Earle, 24, clinched the second spot on this reputed annual list. As Dexerto confirmed, she has gained over 4 million Instagram followers and 7 million followers on TikTok. Earle's TikTok journey began in 2020, with her "Get Ready With Me" videos being one of her biggest breakthroughs on the platform. 

Recalling achieving success on the video-sharing platform, she told TIME,

"My success was a bit of a snowball effect. I always say my content is like a never-ending TV show that you subscribe to for daily updates on my family, my friends, makeup. It’s not just one thing."

Sean Evans took third place on the prestigious TIME's top 100 creators list. The Hot Ones host reflected on chatting with celebrities on his chat show, sharing,

"The way that I’d see guests turn into cartoon characters and just be bouncing around the studio and doing laps and climbing up on tables—I’d just never seen anything like that."

Opening up about his new ventures and being the new chief creative officer of First We Feast, he further told the outlet,

"The whole point of the show is to break somebody. But sometimes an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, and you have to respect when the immovable object wins."

Khaby Lame, the most-followed TikTok creator sits in the fourth position. Next, he has been joined by gymnast-turned-influencer Livvy Dunne on the 100 most influential content creators list.

The 22-year-old revealed her desire to get verified on Instagram to TIME, noting,

"It was always a goal of mine to get that blue check mark on Instagram . I actually drew it on a piece of paper, cut it out, and stuck it on my mirror."

Her transition from sport to social media and modeling has been quite exciting and one-of-a-kind. Discussing rising above others' expectations and achieving new heights in her career, she further noted,

"I can tell you one thing, nobody expected a gymnast to be at the forefront of NIL and collegiate athletics. Breaking down barriers and beating everyone's expectations was very fun. The legacy that I'm leaving, I hope it's bigger than me."

MrBeast, topping as the most subscribed YouTuber, is the sixth digital creator on this list. Charli D'Amelio, the seventh creator on TIME's list, began her TikTok creator journey in 2019. In over a year, she amassed over 50 million and 100 million followers on the platform, becoming the first creator to achieve this feat in 2020.

Looking back at how her creative expression started on TikTok at the age of 15, she said to TIME,

"I was so young when I started doing this, and there were so many paths I could’ve taken."

Expressing her joy over how her life has changed with her creating videos online, she further continued,

"I'm really happy with how it’s turned out. Who would’ve thought posting on TikTok could help get me on Broadway?"

A look at the TIME100 Creators list categories

TIME's TIME100 Creators list has been announced in five categories: Titans, Entertainers, Leaders, Phenoms, and Catalysts. As Dexerto confirmed, here is the detailed creators list and their categories.

Creators in the Titans category 

1. Kai Cenat
2. Alix Earle
3. Sean Evans
4. Khabane Lame
5. Olivia Dunne
6. MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson)
7. Charli D'Amelio
8. Devon Rodriguez
9. Joe Rogan
10. Dhar Mann
11. Alex Cooper
12. Mel Robbins
13. Mark Rober
14. Alan Chikin Chow
15. Heather Cox Richardson
16. Amelia Dimoldenberg
17. Rhett McLaughlin & Link Neal
18. Nick DiGiovanni
19. Marques Brownlee

Creators in the Entertainers category

20. Hannah Berner & Paige DeSorbo
21. Cole Walliser
22. Delaney Rowe
23. Andre Rebelo
24. Jake Shane
25. Taylor Frankie Paul
26. Brittany Broski
27. Eva Gutowski
28. Prajakta Koli
29. Taylen Biggs
30. Haley Kalil
31. Alex & Alan Stokes
32. Heidi Wong
33. Reece Feldman
34. Imane Anys (Pokimane)
35. Josh Harmon
36. Daniel LaBelle
37. Madeline Argy

Creators in the Leaders category

38. Vivian Tu
39. Becky Kennedy
40. Kahlil Greene
41. Theo Von
42. Colin Rosenblum & Samir Chaudry
43. Kate McCue
44. Michelle Khare
45. Golloria George
46. Jay Shetty
47. Hasan Piker
48. Shirley Raines
49. Mikayla Nogueira
50. Dov Forman
51. CJ Pearson
52. Mary Claire Haver
53. V. Spehar
54. Steven Bartlett
55. Brittany Ziegler
56. Wisdom Kaye

Creators in the Phenoms category

57. Tefi Pessoa
58. Keith Lee
59. Meredith Hayden
60. Kareem Rahma
61. Joe Ando‑Hirsh
62. Alex Ojeda
63. Leana Deeb
64. Nick Viall
65. Ilona Maher
66. Drew Afualo
67. Becca Bloom
68. Camila Coelho
69. Darren Jason Watkins Jr. (iShowSpeed)
70. Quenlin Blackwell
71. Hannah Neeleman
72. Alex Consani
73. Nava Rose
74. Nicky Campbell
75. Jordan Howlett
76. Hailey Welch

Creators in the Catalysts category

77. Cyrus Veyssi
78. Hannah Williams
79. Alexis Nikole Nelson
80. Charlie Engelman
81. Devin Halbal
82. Diego Perez
83. Abena Amoakoaa Sintim-Aboagye
84. Taylor Cassidy
85. James Jones
86. Kellie Gerardi
87. Mychal Threets
88. Pattie Gonia
89. SL Rockfish
90. Shina Novalinga
91. April Little
92. Remi Bader
93. Sam Bencheghib
94. Nimay Ndolo
95. Sarah Adams
96. Joel Bervell

Recently, TIME announced the expansion of the TIME100 release and unveiled the first-ever TIME100 Creators list. The publication released the all-new list featuring global digital stars to celebrate their contributions to revolutionizing the social media content game. 

Today, the worldwide digital creator economy has around 67 million creators, and the numbers are only rising. The exponential growth led to the creator landscape turning into a multi-hundred-billion-dollar industry, according to the outlet. They are earning multiple times faster than traditional media creators.

This year's TIME100 Creators list has chosen noteworthy creators from 15 countries, trending on all kinds of online platforms. Interestingly, the selectors prioritized English-language creators this time.

Lucy Feldman, the editorial director at TIME, led the selection procedure. TIME vetted information from correspondents, editors, and contributors and analyzed creator businesses and audience effect to understand every creator's reach, engagement, and impact.